High obesity prevalence persists as a major issue for societies globally (IOM, 2012; WHO, 2013). Chronic overweight and obesity have high health, social, and economic costs (Hammond and Levine, 2010), and the benefits of achieving and maintaining healthy weight for overall health and well-being are well established (Horton, 2009; IOM, 2012; Wing et al., 2011; Zomer et al., 2016). Obesity in children and adolescents is of particular concern because it may compromise physical and psychosocial development and set the stage for early onset of adverse health effects that accumulate over a lifetime (IOM, 2005). Relevant to the topic of this discussion paper, obesity is also a health equity issue. Social disadvantage tends to intensify the exposure to obesity-promoting influences (Braveman, 2009; May et al., 2013). The challenge of preventing and controlling obesity includes the need to assure that socially disadvantaged populations benefit from relevant public health interventions (IOM, 2013).